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WILKES-BARRE - At his first school board appearance since child abuse allegations emerged against him, Wilkes-Barre Area School Board Member Robert M. Corcoran sat through the meeting Monday night without uttering a public word.

He maintained his silence afterward as well.

Corcoran breezed past reporters and ignored their questions as he hastily exited the meeting room. He retreated to a private conference room in the district's administration building, followed by the rest of the board members. They remained in the room for nearly 90 minutes after the meeting.

Child abuse allegations made by Corcoran's wife in a protection from abuse affidavit and Internet postings - which remain under investigation by Wilkes-Barre police - were never discussed at Monday's work session.

In court documents she filed, Corcoran's wife, Mary Claire, described him as an abusive alcoholic who regularly beats his children. On Christmas Eve, the documents say, Corcoran slugged his 13-year-old son in the face 11 times and broke his front teeth after the boy, who is bipolar, fought with his younger brother over a box of candy.

After Monday's meeting, board President Joseph Moran said he didn't want to comment on the allegations "until it is adjudicated" and noted no charges have been filed.

When asked if the controversy affects Corcoran's ability to serve on the school board, Moran said, "No, I wouldn't see why it would."

Corcoran, 50, a Wilkes-Barre optometrist, is serving his first term on the board.

When reporters continued to urge Moran to respond to the latest board controversy, in the wake of three board members being charged in the ongoing federal corruption probe, he said, "I wish we could get on with the business of education. It's sort of a distraction you people create."

Moran's reluctance to speak about Corcoran's situation mirrors comments he made last week when he told a Citizens' Voice reporter, "I would prefer not to comment on his personal life."

Corcoran has denied the allegations made in his wife's PFA, offering his own account in a counter PFA he filed against his son. He said he was blinded by a "sucker punch" launched by his son while he was trying to intervene in an argument between the 13-year-old and 11-year-old. He said his only physical contact with the boy was grabbing and holding him until police arrived.

Mary Claire Corcoran's version varied widely in her PFA and Internet postings. She said her husband reacted maniacally to the 13-year-old's punch, "getting (the boy) in a head lock and punching him repeatedly around the head and face, bloodying his nose and breaking his tooth."

She claimed the boy has been beaten since he was 4 years old and has begun to fight back.

"THIS never should have happened," she wrote in a Christmas day posting, lamenting the fact she left her husband and son without a "referee" while wrapping Christmas presents. "Bob should have handled this better he is the adult here and I KNOW he had a few drinks in him too."

The alleged Christmas Eve spat was not an isolated incident. Records show police have been called multiple times to the Corcorans' East Main Street home. Problems even continued after the Christmas Eve incident, Mary Claire Corcoran reported in her social networking postings. The day after Christmas, he locked her out of the house, blocked access to the Internet at their home, cut off cell-phone service, hid her mail in his home office and disconnected their home telephone answering machine, she said.

"I don't mind telling you that I am scared to death of what he will do to me now," she wrote. "I'm just waiting."

A hearing to determine if the PFAs should be extended is scheduled for Thursday in Luzerne County Court.

bkalinowski@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2055

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